Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded that problems in the nation’s nuclear forces are rooted in a lack of investment, inattention by high-level leaders and sagging morale, and is ordering top-to-bottom changes, vowing to invest billions of dollars to fix the management of the world’s most deadly weapons, two senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. Hagel ordered two lengthy reviews of the nuclear force after a series of stories by the AP revealed numerous problems in management, morale, security and safety, leading to several firings, demotions and other disciplinary actions against a range of Air Force personnel...

President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to consider cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces to as low as 300 deployed warheads—below the number believed to be in China’s arsenal and far fewer than current Russian strategic warhead stocks. Pentagon and military planners were asked to develop three force levels for the U.S. arsenal of deployed strategic nuclear warheads: a force of 1,100 to 1,000 warheads; a second scenario of between 700 and 800 warheads; and the lowest level of between 300 and 400 warheads. A congressional official said no president in the past ever told the Pentagon to conduct a review...

For more than 60 years, nuclear-armed fighters have been a key part of the US deterrence calculus, particularly in Europe. Indeed, providing the umbrella of "extended deterrence" to NATO nations has been a mission performed by generations of USAF air crews, maintainers, and security forces. It now appears that, before long, the iconic nuclear fighter role, performed in recent years by the F-15E and F-16, will pass to a new heavyweight—the F-35 Lightning II. As the Obama Administration sees it, nuclear weapons delivered by fighters will continue to play an important role in the nation’s international affairs. The 2010 Nuclear...

Arms Deal: President Obama signs away U.S. nuclear security and gives the Russians a veto over whether we can defend ourselves. Our nuclear umbrella is in tatters as another piece of paper proclaims peace in our time. Completing a process of disarmament and appeasement that manifested itself in the dismantling and defunding of U.S. military power that began with his inauguration, President Obama signed a new strategic arms limitation treaty with a grinning and very happy Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday in the Czech capital. How fitting this document was signed in Prague, which isn't far from Munich where...

National Security: Aiming at a world where nuclear weapons are obsolete, the administration's nuclear posture review leaves a world without American nuclear weapons and the backbone to use them. After his stunning bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto lamented that all that had been accomplished was to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. Under policies announced by the Obama administration, a devastating chemical or biological attack on this country might merely awaken our very own Hamlet and fill him with a terrible sense of angst. We have said before that rather...

Defense: President Obama dreams of a world without nuclear weapons. Unless testing and maintenance of our nuclear deterrent is resumed, it will be a world without American nuclear weapons.In his Prague speech this spring, the president spoke of "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," ignoring the fact that before 1945 we lived in such a world and it was neither peaceful nor secure. We recently observed the anniversaries of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, actions that brought an abrupt end to the carnage of World War II and arguably...

In early December, the People’s Liberation Army's (PLA) publication, China Defense Daily (Zhongguo Guofang Bao), published a report that provided a rare glimpse into an underground tunnel that is being built by the Second Artillery Corps (SAC)—the PLA's strategic missile forces—in the mountainous regions of Hebei Province in northern China. The network of tunnels reportedly stretches for more than 3,107 miles (Ta Kung Pao, December 11; Xinhua News Agency, December 14). The revelation of the semi-underground tunnel highlights the strides being made by China's nuclear modernization efforts, and underscores a changing deterrent relationship between the United States and China. China's...

"President Barack Obama's Nobel peace surprise was given "primarily for his work on and commitment to nuclear disarmament," according to Agot Valle, a Norwegian politician who served on the award committee. Valle told the Wall Street Journal that the stewards of the prize wanted to "support" Obama's goal, as expressed recently at the United Nations, "of a world without nuclear weapons." It's tough to think of a goal more widely espoused than the dream of an H-bomb-free planet. Ronald Reagan and Jane Fonda, political opposites, came together on this one - in his second term, Reagan stunned his own advisers...

Brown £20bn nuke pledge Brown ... sensational promise By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON Political Editor GORDON Brown sensationally vowed last night to protect future generations with a new £20billion nuclear arsenal. The Chancellor pledged to replace our ageing Trident deterrent when he is Premier — keeping Britain in the world “nuclear club”.His pledge will DELIGHT the US government, the Armed Forces and the defence industry.It will SILENCE Labour’s left, who believe he will return to old-style socialism if he is PM. And it will trigger a FURIOUS row with the ban-the-bomb brigade.Mr Brown told the City in his annual Mansion...

"Reckless" US demands in recent nuclear talks are compelling North Korea to increase its nuclear deterrent, Pyongyang's official KNCA news agency Wednesday quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. "The US reckless stance only pushes the DPRK (North Korea) to further increase its nuclear deterrent force," the spokesman said. The report added the recently concluded six-party negotiations in Beijing were "not intended to find a negotiated solution to the issue but to achieve its ulterior aim, wasting time." Washington's demands will merely prompt North Korea to take "more necessary steps with increased pace," the North Korean spokesman said. Six-way talks...

CHINA IS A THREAT TO AMERICA CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY ON NEWSMAX.COM OFFICIAL CHINESE ARMY ORDERS The following document was obtained from sources inside the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Confidential*** Document of Office of the Central Military Commission (OCMC) OCMC Serial No. [1999] 65 OCMC Notice on Forwarding the Document "Watching Closely for Changes in the Relationships with Taiwan and Enhancing the Awareness by Military Leadership of the Current Situation" All Regional Garrisons, All General Departments Affiliated to the Central Military Commission (CMC), All Arms and Services, All Corps Headquarters, All Provincial Garrisons, and All Prefecture Garrisons:...

There is an old English proverb from the 15th century, from a time of civil war and intrigue, that says: "In trust is treason." It has long been said that there is a time to trust and a time to withhold trust. Shakespeare's Henry V offers us the following advice: "Trust none; For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafercakes, And hold-fast is the only dog." In 1732 Thomas Fuller wrote: "If we are bound to forgive an enemy we are not bound to trust him." Henry Fielding advised readers: "Not to trust him who hath deceived you, nor who...

Last Friday, President George Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met in Moscow and signed a new arms control treaty that reduced each side's nuclear missile arsenal from as many as 6,000 warheads today to 1,700-2,200 within a decade. "This treaty liquidates the Cold War legacy of nuclear hostility between our two countries," Bush said in the Kremlin's ceremonial St. Andrew's Hall. Putin said the three-page treaty was the culmination of talks that began last November at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. "It's the decision of two states which are particularly responsible for international security and strategic stability," the...